Dark Tail (The True Fairy Tale Re-write)
by NotAHero101
Summary: Random manga/anime fan SI, hasn't actually finished Fairy Tail, suddenly finds himself in Hiro Mashima's world, only, theres something seriously wrong with it. Si's magic is a form of the Gamer's Ability. Follow on as he slowly but surely loses his sanity in an even crazier Fairy Tail world. (This fanfic will have quite a few dark momen- arcs, dark arcs. You have been warned)
1. Chapter 0 Duality

**Author notes: Rewriting 'The True Fairy Tale' so that it's easier to read and grasp. Plot-wise, nothing much will change, just the writing style. And there will also be an**** Edolas interlude at the end of every second chapter or so. So the events surrounding that arc make more sense.**

**If anything is unclear then please do mention it and I'll fix it accordingly.**

**...**

...

(Earthland)

The stranger blinked, briefly startled as he suddenly woke. He quickly took a look around at his current circumstances. It looked somewhat like a warehouse room, though he definitely wasn't the only one here. He could make out rows on rows of beds lining up the entire space. The occupants were all dressed up in mismatched clothing, he could make out a few of what he presumed were the staff?

"How did I get here..." He muttered, mostly to himself, warily.

"Hello," A voice called out to him from behind.

He quickly turned around at the sudden voice, once again startled. He eyed the youthful girl dressed in what he assumed was the uniform. A simple white top, branded with a strange mark he couldn't recognise, and a pair of white pants. In her hand was a bundle of papers.

"Can I have your name?" She questioned as she readied her pen.

_There's a good question..._ He frowned. His eyes marginally widening as he realised he couldn't recall his name.

The girl tilted her head slightly, a frown on her face. "No memory?" At his slow nod she sighed, briefly shaking her head. "First time Im doing this and you have amnesia," She chuckled at some hidden joke.

"Uhh... Sorry, but, where am I?" He questioned warily. Location first, identity crisis later. It wasn't to say he had _no _memories but anything regarding his identity was hazy at best.

"Oh... You're in Hargeon, a few staff members found you outside the shelter," She helpfully answered. A moment later and the girl quickly put the bundle of papers away as she made to sit beside him. "Can you remember anything?" The look of amusement vanished, replaced by concern.

"Hargeon?" He frowned again. "What country is this?"

The girl blinked, both surprised and wary at how little he seemed to recall. "Fiore,"

He sweatdropped, _So, probably not earth... Why does that name sound so familiar..._

...

(Edolas)

The royal city was a beautiful place, high walls and the clean well-decorated streets made it easy on the eyes compared to the outside world. If one were to ignore the magical city filled by Exceeds it would easily be the most luxuries place to live. The spiralling palace in the middle was what made it such a landmark.

However, as with any large city, there was of course, a less _refined_ section. Near one of the outskirts of the major city, a stranger gasped as he woke up on the damp ground in a shadowed alleyway.

There was a shocked look on his face as he stared up at the sky. Slowly, but surely, he raised a hand to stare at, unable to stop the shaking it caused. _What-_The sudden sound in his head caused him to let out a shriek.

When the sound registered, he quickly covered his mouth. His hand still shaking in the process.

_What the hel- The v_oice returned at full force, once again shocking the stranger on it's origins. He could feel his breathing rapidly increase, for some strange reason, he knew that was a bad sign. Everything felt surreal, from the colours he could see to the sounds he could hear.

It took him another moment to register that he could understand the words in his head, a moment later to realise it was his own mind.

The shaking returned as he pulled his legs closer to his chest, wrapping both arms around them.

...


	2. Chapter 1 Breaking Expectations

"Are you-" The young woman in front of him started, her eyes briefly glazing over as she, once again, lost concentration. After shaking her head, she continued on as if nothing had happened. "-sure you have everything?"

Under normal circumstances someone acting the way the shelter worker did would've worried him.

_Normal circumstances..._ The thought threatened to make him go mad.

Thankfully he settled for a sigh.

"Everything but a name-" When he realised the woman was likely not even paying attention he simply sighed, gave his thanks and walked past her. The woman none the wiser, her gaze set on the one responsible for crushing whatever little hope he'd had for his sanity.

Yes, under normal circumstances, he probably would've shown a little more worry.

...

He'd been in the mysterious, up until the morning, world for three days already.

**"Observe," **He whispered, his eyes set on one of the strangers sat in nearby table, watching as a prompt instantly appeared. The small square box had showed him two things. Level and the stranger's 'attributes'. The stranger his ability had caught sight of evidently was a civilian. He generally got two different kind of readings each time he used the ability on someone.

Civilians, as the box showed, were level 0, with all their attributes at one. Likely meaning the readings were about one's magic capability? He doubted every single civilian had the same level in each stat... That, again, being one.  
Not that he had conclusive proof, considering the other result he usually received, after using the ability on actual _mages,_ was a bunch of questions marks beside _their_ level and stat's.

He'd seen his own fair share of mages too, more then he'd realised he would, the first sighting occurring on day one even.

Coincidentally that was also the moment he'd found out he himself had 'magic.' More specifically the Gamer ability. How'd he find out? The first time he'd seen a mage was the first time he'd seen someone start _glowing._ _Literally_ start glowing. A green hue would surround them from head to toe, one they couldn't see and that only seemed to stay _visible _to him if he kept focusing on it.

On an entirely unrelated note, mouthing off swear words in confusion and/or shock was another way to open up _his_ stats menu. Not that it meant much at the time, as less then a second later, for whatever reason, a rush of memories suddenly returned at once... Memories that, _didn't,_ help whatsoever. Memories that made him want to jump off the nearest cliff.  
Honestly. Whoever's responsible for _that_ needs a punch in the face. Why? Because that cluster of memories just happened to be about every 'SI' story he'd ever read...

With one common feature.

They were all abandoned.

Har Har.

If there _wa_s a 'ROB' out there, they could, Kindly, go fu-

...

He sipped the drink in front of him as he stared out towards the sea, he'd gotten a bit of money to help him with... They hadn't really been specific, or he hadn't been paying attention... Still, the _council_ was rather nice to those they didn't consider threats. He was currently sat down in the outdoors section of a small restaurant waiting for the climax of the first chapter? Few chapters? to occur...

He sighed, it was still hard to believe that he'd been thrown to _this_ world.

Smaller bits of his memory had slowly started to return following the first reveal, stories he'd planned to read, manga he'd planned to buy and movies he'd always postponed- You get the idea.  
In other words? They'd been utterly useless. Because, for one thing, his ability still refused to do more then show him a bunch of attributes from people that were, presumably, lower then or at the same level as his own.  
Still, even with all the useless memories, he hadn't really been worried. Up until this morning, he'd even been looking forward to finally venturing out! To discover whatever strange fantasy world he'd been thrown into! The kinds of adventures he was likely to go through.

Then he'd caught site of 'Salamander' waltzing about as if he owned the place.

Then he'd seen black.

Literally seen black, the second large rush of memories had actually hit much harder then the previous, hard enough to knock him out.  
That one had focused exclusively on anime and manga he'd either finished or given up on- Seriously, just how much of his life had he spent around them... And to his wonderful fortune? The world he'd been thrust in just happened to be one of the latter.

As he shook the drink, a frown appearing on his face as he realised it was empty, he couldn't think of anyway this could've turned out... Duller?

He wasn't even sure where to start... He'd given up on the story, presumably, around the half-way point? He wasn't sure, the last thing he could recall was... The dragons layers fighting? He sighed.  
With the way things were shaping up, he was likely going to have to join Fairy Tail, for one reason or another. That _was_ the main focus of the manga after all. Hell, he wasn't even sure why he was given the 'Gamer's Ability' in the first place... Not to say he was upset with it, in fact he'd likely picked it himself had he been given a choice... But it felt... Somewhat useless in _this_ world. He wasn't really needed here was he? Fairy Tail never really struggled with anything as far as he could recall. That been one the main reasons he'd dropped it in the first place.

He had considered outright travelling away from all the fuss... But, well, there were less painful ways to die.  
He didn't know if there really was a ROB out there, definitely couldn't think of another potential cause at any rate, but assuming there was... While he had no problem and no control when it came to insulting them... Going directly against their wishes however generally resulted in _actual_ trouble and with Acnologia out there travelling around...

Simply put, just because Natsu and everyone else had plot armour, didn't mean that he did.

Besides, Si's didn't have a problem with staying alive... Keeping all their organs/limbs/senses intact on the other hand? _That_ was the hard part. Usually anyway, he doubted it'd be a problem in this particular happy-go-lucky world. Besides, his 'Gamer' ability might even allow him to automatically restore anything following sleep and/or levelling up, he'd certainly read enough stories with that particular boost included. Not that he was planning to find out himself.  
No. He was fully prepared to let someone else force him to. Though he doubted it would ever come to that.

Honestly, there were very few _safer_ worlds to be in-

And before the thought could even finish, his eyes widened as he stared out towards the port... The ship, the one he'd assumed belonged to 'Salamander' had suddenly went up in flames. The other patrons around him had momentarily stopped whatever they'd been doing as they stared out towards the sea themselves, questioning whoever could _hear_them on what was going on.

He could feel a few sweat-drops go down the side of his face himself as he stared out, why? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't really worried... It was _Fairy Tail_ after all...

He'd found the closest restaurant to the port that he could. If only to get a glimpse of Natsu in action, what he might've said about the story itself aside, the fight scenes generally turned out well...

Actually seeing it happen in real life? Even from this distance... Well, if nothing else ruined the experience, the _screams _definitely did.

He knew his memory was hazy but... He was fairly certain the anime and manga never really made that big of a deal out of... Natsu's tendencies...

Still, as bad as seeing a _cruise ship on fire_ was... It didn't compare to the sheer dread he felt when Aquarius let loose her tsunami.

"Oi..." He found himself accidentally letting out as he watched said tsunami rapidly close in, the, hopefully empty, cruise ship at the helm of it.

...

He coughed a few times as he forced himself up, one hand on the nearby broken wall for support. His breathing felt almost hollow as he took a look around. His eyes widening at the site of each injured person he could make out, all of them more then likely in worse shape compared to him... And he could barely move himself. The entire building had practically collapsed, for that matter, every building around him that he could see had fallen.

Still... At least it looked like nobody had died...He briefly shook his head, Fairy Tail been destructive _was_ certainly a running gag... But this was frankly redic- Whatever thought he'd had quickly disappeared at the blur of something rocketing in his direction.

'**Crash' **

He winced, his instincts moving him a few steps back, at the sight of the man crashing on the nearby wall. Natsu had quite the hook on him if he could push him back this far... When he took in the man's lifeless eyes however, the dread he'd felt earlier returned in full force.

"Observe..." He used, hopeful he was wrong and the man really was just simply uncons-

**-Dead-**

He stared at the prompt, blinking a few times in the process until it disappeared entirely... His gaze transfixed ahead of him as he tilted his head just the slightest.  
_  
Why's my hand shaking? _

The question went unanswered as he, slowly, _really _looked around. As he focused on all the injured, the maimed, the likely now bankrupt civilians around him... The _dead_ man in front him. He honestly couldn't really remember what the man did that had made him a criminal but, all things considered, he's likely to never forget the life-less eyes currently staring back at him.

That, if anything, had been the moment he'd gotten a _glimpse _into the kind of world he'd been thrown into.

...


	3. Chapter 2 Breaking Rabbit Holes

**I just wanted to mention Edolas's timeline is approximately four or five days behind Earthlands. Reason behind it will be shown as soon as the counterparts part is added in to this chapter.**

...

July 2, X784

He stared down at the life-less corpse in front of him, panic writ across his own face, panic that for some strange reason kept on _changing?_ It took a few more moments before he realised it was likely a passive ability from his magic...

_Gamers mind... _A rather common skill that came with having said ability, he was fairly certain it'd even showed up in the original Gamer's story itself, let alone the fanfictions he'd read based around it... It was supposed be a skill that kept one's mind clear and levelheaded but... Well, the way it seemed to function for him was a little odd.

It wasn't necessarily keeping him calm, more that every few seconds it cleared any mental issues? Debuffs? That he was dealing with temporarily... There was no other way to describe it, every time he stared at 'Salamander' the dread he'd felt earlier returned at full force, before momentarily disappearing as he looked away. For some reason, that felt like it was going to be a major problem... He shook his head trying to clear the thoughts and unsurprisingly, his ability did it's job.

Opening his eyes, he kept his gaze off 'Salamander' and tried to take in everyone else around him...

_What the hell!?_ He blinked as he took in everyone's _frozen_ bodies. "What's going on..?" He questioned uncertainly as he made to move towards the others, only to realise he himself was also frozen in time.

"Ok then..." He frowned. When he made to turn, expecting it to fail, he was surprised to find his body actually listening. Only to once again suddenly stop as soon as he'd made a 180 turn. Directly ahead, he could make out Natsu, Lucy and Happy's frozen figures, ignorant expressions on their face as they ran away from the disaster they'd caused, their destination clear.

For some strange reason, the entire situation felt like one of those quick-time events, well not necessarily _quick_ considering everyone was currently frozen in time... But, he figured it was likely another aspect of his, _unique,_ gamers ability... Or the more likely reason been that the unofficial ROB was, he frankly refused to believe one _didn't _exist at this point, well... _Fucking_ with him again. To put it bluntly.

He tried to take a single step towards Natsu... Unsure of what he was expecting. And for that split second, time _resumed_. What with the cries suddenly restarting. At least before everything froze again as he himself stopped moving.

_They want me to follow Natsu?_ Not that it didn't make sense per say considering Natsu was likely half the reason Lucy's introduction to Fairy Tail had gone so smoothly... Still, there had to be a reason to _forcing_ him to follow them, he doubted it'd make much of a difference if he was a day or two late... With that thought in mind, he turned around towards 'Salamander' and unsurprisingly, the world froze over again, refusing to let him move a step away from Natsu. He tilted his head slightly, trying to take in the whole scene, his mind trying to figure out why-

'Salamander' started glowing, not green, but rather a light shade of blue? _Wonder what that-_

**'-800 mana' **The prompt suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing him to quickly double over in pain, holding his stomach, his eyes barely taking in the fact he'd somehow used over 800 mana for... Something... _Probably the whole stopping time thing_... It felt like someone had taken the air out of his lungs.

He could stop time... Either that or his **ID** was activating itself without permission. "Okay then..." He idly wondered how much mana he really had... And what would happen if he overused it... There wasn't a safer time to try it... Considering the only 'Villain' was currently a corpse...

"What's the worst that could happen? Certainly can't get any worse..." Seriously, what could possibly be worse then finding out he'd been thrown into a, frankly, much darker version of Fairy Tail... Seriously, the only way it _could_ get worse was if Acnologia and/or Zeref suddenly showed up... And he seriously doubted that was happening... Even a 'ROB' wasn't crazy enough to throw in the main villains so early... Right?

Besides... Gamers had an effective loot system... And while he certainly felt horrible- Hey, he frankly needed all the help he could get at this point... He doubted the 'ROB' would mind...

_'Gamer's Mind makes for one hell of a drug.'_

He turned back towards Natsu, taking the same step forward, unsurprised to see the world resume again, before he turned back towards Salamander.

Thankfully he managed to take the whole mana loss much better as he barely doubled over, merely wincing as he grabbed his stomach.

He repeated the process, unsure of how many times he'd actually have to do-

**'-300 Mana, -100 health'**

The second attempt evidently almost knocked him out cold. Turns out skills used his _health_ to make up the difference after running out considering the small migraine he was suddenly dealing with. '_Note to self, Gamers Mind doesn't cover migraines.'_ With that wonderful thought in mind, he attempted to take a single step towards 'Salamander' and was pleasantly surprised to find himself actually moving in the direction.

With a somber smile on his face, he took a few more steps forward before another prompt appeared.

**-Accept?- **The sudden option naturally took him by surprise, though he didn't have a clue as to what he was accepting... That was all that had showed up, a prompt asking him if he accepted or not. Nothing else.

It felt like one of those 'Terms and conditions' he'd seen millions of in his previous life, because naturally that memory just _had_ to be one of the things he remembered...

Naturally, he did what any other would do and accepted it with a shrug, for all he knew, it might've meant he was free to do whatever he please-

-**Quest accepted ****- **The words quickly took him by surprise... So it was a quest... And just beneath the new prompt was the option to open up said quest.

"..." _Well... Maybe it's not so bad... Maybe the four stars stood for levels? This being a level four quest and all..._

Opening it up, a somewhat worried expression lining his face, he was honestly starting to regret not simply following Natsu... Still, a three letter title with no description was the last thing he expected.

What the hell was an **E.N.D**? In the background he could hear cries calling out for the magical council and/or naturally justified shouting and cursing towards the ones responsible for practically destroying the entire port. Which calmed him down, at least he wasn't frozen anymore...

Warily, he simply closed the quest prompt, about to go use the loot function on the 'corpse' in front of him. _Fairly certain anyone else would've done the same in my position..._ The thought didn't necessarily help. Still, just before he could take another step, _another_ prompt appeared in front of him once again. Honestly how many prompts was he going to deal with? He quickly read over what he'd been graced with this time...

-**Sub-reward Accepted-**

_That... Doesn't sound so bad..._ Not that he could actually see said reward as he still couldn't open his inventory... But rewards were never a bad thing... Closing the prompt, he was about to _once_ again try to move, seriously what kind of tutorial was this? And of course, _another_ bloody prompt appeared... He was getti-

**-Gamers Mind _Removed-_**

He stared at the words, blinking rapidly in the process... "Shit..." Before he could even get another word or thought in, he suddenly found himself falling backwards, unable to stop himself as his gaze turned towards the sky.

Said sky splitting open was the last thing he could make out as darkness quickly claimed him.

...

-Edolas-

June 28, X784

He stared at the prompt in front of him with mild trepidation. His thoughts over his previous state long gone.

It had taken a few hours before he'd eventually calmed down. A few... Certainly odd memories returning? He wasn't entirely sure whether he was remembering them or wether they were given to him by something else... He couldn't really discern much out of them, however at the time he'd received that hadn't been much of an issue... More that he'd been having a breakdown at... Well, he wasn't sure what to call his sudden appearance. The memories had helped calm him down for whatever reason. Thining about them had helped clear his head.

Until the prompt in front of him had appeared at any rate.

**-Find Lucy-**

_A quest... _The stranger blinked at the thought. How'd he know what a quest was? And for that matter, who was Lucy exactly?

He waved away the prompt, the quest disappearing within seconds causing him to freeze. He stared down at his hand, somewhat confused and wary.

"At least the texts gone..." He stood up, quickly straightening his, rather tattered clothes, though it didn't help much.

Still, the way his body seemed to go, for lack of a better word, autopilot was rather concerning. He took in his surroundings, frowning at the state of the area. He raised a hand and quickly froze.

"What am I doing..?" He stared at the hand, a bemused look on his face before simply shaking his head.

And then it happened, the first of many... And what would also be a personal nightmare of his in the ears to come.

The stranger's brow furrowed as he felt the sudden loss of mana. It wasn't anything to worry about, considering it was a single point... He tilted his head to the side.

"What the hell is mana?" Briefly flinching as soon as he said the word as it seemed to summon more of those annoying prompts.

He stared at the stats in front of him, refusing to even acknowledge the fact he seemed to understand the word he had yet to learn. When his eyes landed on mana, they narrowed the slightest.

-**1326/1327**-

He wasn't sure why, but he felt odd, as if something wasn't right. Though no matter how hard he looked, nothing change-

He wasn't restoring any mana... And steadily losing it...

The sudden realisation however didn't last very long as his hand seemed to instinctively reach into his pockets before once again freezing. What the hell was he looking for? And for that matter wouldn't it be in his invent-

He was really starting to get worried... Did he have amnes-

His mana dropping another point quickly brought him out of his thoughts.

"... Screw it, Inventory!"

He'd like to believe the idea he _didn't _scream the moment a portable dimension opened up in front of him. At least until he actually took in the entire thing.

He could see rows full of things seemingly obscured by... Something. And in the middle of it all, a massive Key-hole...

When the prompt to enter a password popped up, he swore.

Wasn't this wonderful...


	4. Chapter 3 Lost and Found

July 5, X784

He woke up with a groggy expression to his face, a dry hoarse feeling in his mouth; as if hadn't drank anything for the past _week. _He blinked a few times as he surveyed the room he was in, it looked like- _Who the fuck is that?_ His mind suddenly questioned- Though he _was_somewhat glad he hadn't said it out loud. Still, he eyed the purple-haired stranger with mild interest. _She certainly looks like a character that pervert would draw..._ Still he failed to recognise her. She was currently sat on a chair on the other side of the room, a book evidently more interesting then him in her hands. Though for some odd reason, his magic seemed to react to it, how? He wasn't sure. After he got a good enough look at the rest of the room, he found it was rather bland, though he did raise an eyebrow at the plate of food beside his bed.

He coughed to get the woman's attention.

"Awake I see," The stranger questioned as she closed the book in her hand, raising her gaze.

He repressed the shudder he felt coming as the woman seemed to appraise him...

"Uhh-" _Smooth_, "Where am I?"

"People usually ask me who I am first," The woman chuckled.

"Do you make a habit of sneaking into peoples rooms at night?" He questioned on instinct, suppressing a sigh in the process.

The stranger shrugged good naturally, "I found you collapsed outside, near the harbour, and you're in a hostel I rented,"

Embarrassment filled him up at the words as he turned his gaze, "Ah... How long have I been out?"

"Three days I believe," The woman answered, before snorting when she heard the boy swear in response, barely a whisper though she heard it all the same.

"Umm, sorry I don't really have any money to pay you back with..." He admitted sheepishly.

"Hmm, I noticed, there's food to your left if you're hungry,"

Without even getting the chance to respond, his stomach decided to rumble. Amusing the woman even more. "Thank you," He stated as he reached for it.

"Do you remember anything?"

Taking in a mouthful, he made an effort to remember what had- Salamander, the fake one at any rate, had... Died... He blinked a few times before placing the plate back on it's counter, a sigh escaping.

"It's a little blurry..." He answered with another sigh, a moment passing before he realised he still had no idea who this woman was. "Umm, who are you?"

"People usually introduce themselves first," The woman replied, a mirthful look to her face, almost if she'd been waiting for the chance...

Unfortunately, he failed to notice any of that as his mind was rather preoccupied trying to figure out what the hell he was going to call himself. He felt 'amnesia' wasn't going to cut it anymore, still he couldn't really think of one on the spot... After another moment of thought he figured he should just ask the woman.

"I don't know what to tell you, I don't really have one," He answered passively. _That_ time he noticed the spark in her eyes.

"How curious..."

_It really isn't._ Other then his rather _broken_ magic, there wasn't much else interesting. Besides maybe his knowledge of the future...

In hindsight he really ought to be a little more careful. Staring at the woman in front of him, he found her waiting for a response.

"What is?"

"It's not every day one meets a mage without a name... So, what do you plan to do?"

"Join Fairy Tail," WAs his immediate response. He blinked the moment he heard the words himself. When he heard the woman start laughing at his choice, he twitched. He didn't really see the funny side.

"You're going to need a name for that,"

"Any suggestions?"

"How about..." She drew the moment out, causing him to roll his eye- "_Zeref_?"

His body tensed up as he felt his magic flare up, his eyes narrowing in the process. That wasn't a name people just threw about... He took a longer look over the woman.

"Oh, so you do recognise it..."

"Who-" He'd been about to question the woman again on who she was, his guard up. He briefly considered the window until he realised they were likely too high up.

"Can you imagine the look on their faces when 'Zeref' decides to join Fairy Tail?"

Every thought regarding escape vanished as the he turned back to stare at the amused woman.

_Crap..._ He thought to himself, somewhat exasperated. He was actually considering it.

"Well, _Zeref,"_ The woman suddenly started as she stood up, "I have business to get to, it was nice meeting you," She finished about to leave through the door.

"What's your name?" He blurted out once again.

She briefly turned back to look at him, a glint in her eye as she answered. "Ultear Milkovich,"

_Holy shit! _He froze at the words, his eyes widened as he watched the woman disappear.

After a few moments passed, he felt himself grow more uncomfortable by the second- He suddenly released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, hurried gasps as he felt himself sag back into the bed. He couldn't believe he'd just had a meeting with one of the most dangerous people in Fairy Tail!

He'd actually considered trying to run away from the woman who could** control time! **The idea was as amusing as it was impossible. He couldn't believe he'd fallen under her radar! He couldn't imagine what would've happened if she'd found out he knew the future. The crazy woman was a part of-

He blinked as he stared at the small cluster of jewels underneath Ultear's chair, he hadn't been able to see it earlier.

"... Maybe she wasn't that bad after all..." He muttered to himself.

...

As he made to pocket (Throw everything into his portable pocket dimension) He suddenly remembered (Found it in his inventory) the reward he'd gotten from accepting the... E.N.D quest? He was fairly certain it was called that (He opened up the Quest tab, though the quest itself showed nothing but the name).

At the cost of Gamers Mind...

He was screwed... He was actually screwed! He realised with daunting terror, his eyes widening in the process. He seriously doubted there was anything remotely worth losing such a powerful ability...

He _examined_ his so called 'reward' Expecting complete disappointment-

'T.A.N.S.O.M Crystal' -Once activated, for the next five minutes user will experience the following effects. Level and stats are temporarily raised to match the highest in the party. User is capable of retraining his stats, resetting once the effect has finished. Any Skills created/and-or levelled during the duration are retained once the effect has ended.-

He read through the effects over and over, if only to make sure he wasn't hallucinating... He'd received ten of them. _Ten!_

"... Worth it," He knew he was going to regret those words, when? He wasn't sure. But it was going to happen at some point.

After he'd made sure the Jewels, all one hundred thousand, were in his inventory. He quickly made his way downstairs, checking out of the room and making his way outside. He figured it was probably time he made his way to Fairy Tail.

"..." He had absolutely no idea where the guild was...

...

After spending far too long trying to figure out the directions (He'd gotten lost seventeen times trying to use a map) he'd finally decided to ask someone for directions.

He'd missed it by two corners.

Still, the annoyance in finding the place aside, he'd found it rather... Pleasant... In a way. Odd word to use for sure, but something about the place just **screamed** welcoming at him. As he was about to go inside he heard someone speak up behind him. Recognising the voice instantly.

"Who are you?" Natrsu questioned bemusedly.

He grinned as he turned, idly wondering if the dragonslayer even knew who Zeref was.

"I wanted to join the guild, my name is Zere...s?" He'd stuttered the name, not on a mistake on his part, but rather what he'd seen...

He ignored the way Natsu's face suddenly lit up at having found another member, so soon after Lucy as well. His eyes instead locked onto the two mages beside him, particularly the one Natsu was helping stand. He had short, slicked back dark blue hair. He recognised the man, though the name escaped him...

"Zeres huh? We've got another one already!" Natsu cheered easily.

"Aye..." Happy replied passively, somewhat withdrawn.

He himself however couldn't tear his eyes away from the one struggling to stand... He was missing an arm...

...

**A/N: Next chapter will include an Edolas interlude, the alternate world being a few days behind the Earthland will play a hand into the story, later on. Once the Edolas one reaches July 2, X784, what occurred while Zeres was 'asleep' will be revealed.**

**As always any feedback is welcomed, though I particularly want some on the writing itself, I want to make sure that it's easy to understand, if any part of it is confusing in anyway please do mention it.**

**Gamers Mind: User's mind is constantly kept in a calm state.**

**Examine: Examine the stats, in the case of living beings, and properties, in the case of items, of anything magical in nature.**


	5. Chapter 4 Error 404

**...**

**-July 5th, X784-**

"Zeres huh?" Makarov questioned, a bored look on his face before he sniffed and turned back to his newspaper. "Welcome to the guild."

He couldn't help but let the inevitable, no doubt visible because anime! sweat-drop appear as he stared at the indifferent guild leader before him. The man had, admittedly enough, taken a while to process his name, his eyes swapping between him and Macao, but he hadn't expected... That.. And before he could so much as react, a tired sigh came out of the concerned and rather harried Straus currently tending to the one armed fire mage. Who was currently trying to stop his bawling son from, well, bawling.

"Master!" Mirajane suddenly, to his and everyone around the woman's fright, snarled. A demonic aura filling the air as she glared at the quickly sweating guild master. "I would appreciate some help here," She finished with a strained smile.

Zeres promptly questioned his decision to join this particular guild.

**-PING: QUEST UPDATED-**

He thankfully managed to hide any surprise from showing on his face at the sudden window opening. Taking a closer look he realised it was the quest-

"Eh! What kind of magic is that?" Natsu's face popped into his peripheral, a mischievous look on his face as he eyed the tab-

_He can see it!?_ He barely registered Natsu's words as his eyes swept around to those around him. From Mirajane's rather keen look to Lucy's, who was just a few feet behind me with a rather forlorn cat in her lap, clear interest-

"Hey, so what magic is that?" Natsu questioned again, the excited look still present, having assumed Zeres had simply not heard him the first time.

"Archive huh?" Makarov questioned the moment he turned his eyes away from the much calmer Romeo, though his attention turned back after another moment, his expression hidden away once again, not even giving Zeres the chance to reply.

"Oi! What magic is that?" Natsu questioned again, a strained smile on his face.

Zeres turned to actually answer his question, somewhat surprised at the usually cheerful Salamanders tone, though to his and Natsu's clear, frustration, he found himself suddenly pulled by the elbow from behind.

"Dammit Zeres! What magic is that!?"

"It's archive you idiot! Didn't you hear Master!?"

"Eh!? Gray you trying to pick a fight? With ya bloody water-cooler magic!"

Gray in return simply grinned grinned after a moment of thought. "My magic is _cooler_."

"... If your magics so_ cool_. Explain the stripping." Natsu deadpanned in return, silencing the hall as a metaphorical spotlight turned over him.

...

"oi- Who the hell-" Zeres turned on the spot expecting, oddly enough, a fight, before his expression promptly turned blank at the sight of one Levy McGarden. Dressed in... Well, not what he could_ probably_ remember? He certainly remembered a lot more orange... And a lot less _Cana_...

He blinked once his gaze trailing down the slightest due to height, earning a twitch out of the otherwise mischievously smiling girl-

"... You're shorter then I expected," He deadpanned earning another twitch as his gaze turned towards the empty hallway. She'd dragged him towards what he'd presumed would be a corner of the hall, though it looked to connect to another part of the building. One he hadn't been able to see outside.

"Ohh. How original." She rolled her eyes before the excited gleam returned, the girl practically jumping on her feet. "So! Do you really have it!?"

Zeres blinked for a moment, before he noticed the girls gaze was set on the still floating tab before him.

"...You know about this..._ ability_?" He questioned carefully. "These quests?" The second managing to set something off as the girls eyes seemed to light up further, as if they somehow confirmed something.

"Awesome!" She somehow managed to keep the _shriek_ quiet enough before she promptly dashed towards his side, her eyes, already skimming through the tab. "You and I are going to be great friends!" She remarked almost absentmindedly as she took in the current quests directions. Her pride swelling at the fact it had specifically been named made for _her_ guild. As opposed to any other. Or perhaps it was simply based on the... And she couldn't believe she was standing next to one! Gamer's location?

Zeres on the other hand doubted her words. "How do you even know about this?" He questioned instead, somewhat curious.

Levy blinked out of her stupor, her mind set on wondering whether the exploits she'd read about were possible, her eyes just about finishing the _new_ objective, a grin slowly growing on her face.

"Manga, how else?" She answered nonchalantly.

Zeres blinked.

_There _is_ manga in this world... _The thought brought about a sense of hope unlike any other as a grin slowly etched onto his face.

"Zeres... Right?" She questioned sheepishly, quickly earning his attention.

He turned his head the slightest before promptly taking a step back when he noticed how close her face had gotten- _Only to find a wall behind him, _blocking his  
escape.

Levy smiled, moving her head even closer towards the _frozen_ mage, her urge to laugh growing out of hand, before she reached his ear and whispered-

"Would you like to join Shadow Gear?"

**-PING: ACTION REQUIRED-**

Zeres blinked at the sudden prompt and the girl currently trying to, for lack of a better word, abus-

Without skipping a beat, Levy grinned, moved her head back and promptly clicked the -YES- option that appeared.

**-PING: QUEST UPDATED-**

._..What just happened?_

...

**-Edolas, ****June 29, X784-**

He panted, attempting to gain back whatever little energy he'd had. His gaze however was forced down onto the still decreasing amount of mana...

**1237/1327**

It'd only been a single day and yet he'd already lost what amounted to almost 10 percent of his mana. How he even knew what it was withstanding. Though the majority of the missing mana had actually disappeared in the span of an hour. Physical effort seemed to increase the amount he lost greatly.

He'd been chased, rather thoroughly through out the city. Armed guards with magical weapons that _weren't _fodder-

He froze on the spot, his posture slowly straightening itself. his breathing back under control. He wasn't sure what was going on, but for some reason he felt a chill breeze fill the air the moment he'd started thinking about the cities armed guard. He briefly took a look around him, wondering if some had managed to catch up, he'd ran into this alleyway as soon as he could, he'd lost sight of any of said guards two corners back. Why they were chasing him in the first place, he wasn't sure, though he figured a few of the merchants in the market square had likely reported him. When he'd seen the guards coming, he'd only escalated everything by instinctively grabbing the nearest object he could find. A dagger, currently hidden in one of his trouser pockets.  
With no guards in sight, his mind briefly focused on the troubling thought's he'd been having, thoughts about things he had no place knowing. Images of dragons and wizards filled his mind. Of demons and devils. Of light and Darkness.

Of Spirits and Shadows.

But all the same, strange images and words aside, that wasn't his biggest worry-

**1236/1327**

He held back the wince at the drop in mana. No, the bigger problem surrounded his body's instincts? Reactions? That frankly seemed out of place, his memories were clouded to say the least but even still the way his body carried itself, the way his eye wandered around looking for dangers, signs, anything.

To put it bluntly, he felt as if he didn't belong in it, as if it wasn't _his_ per say... As if there was something wrong.

Something out of place... Missing?

No... The feeling was closer to an overflowing cup, rather then-

**1235/1327**

He blinked at the sudden prompt. His eyes widening marginally, it was too soon. He wasn't meant to lose another point for-

**1234/1327**

He panicked as he felt the second drop.

**1233/1327**

His mind quickly jumped to overdrive as he tried to figure out what was going, what was wrong. His gaze snapping around him. The alleyway was rather small. A single pathway connecting two different streets, trash filled the ground, rats screeched as they ran past his legs. His gaze rapidly moving between everything, as if his answer would simply appear before him.

**1232/1327**

It was dropping faster...

**1231/1327**

He could feel his hands staring shaking, his mind numbing itself at the constant loss in mana.

**1230/1327**

He wondered if it had something to do with the strange quest? The quest urging him to find a person called _Lucy_. A name both familiar and unknown to him. Having never met such a person-

**1229/1327**

He took in a deep breath, he had no intention of finding out what would happen should he truly reach 0, his mind focused on nothing else but to contain itself, contain his mana, using exercises he shouldn't have known and yet instinctively seemed to resort to.  
The familiar feel of losing mana vanished, a sigh of relief escaping him. He raised his head, idly wondering what could've set off such an attack?

In the deepest part of his _Mind_, different shades of darkness twisted around as they tried to fill the ever expanding blank realm it found itself in, with naught but what looked like an almost full chalice, stationed at the very middle of the blank realm, the liquid perfectly clear and level as a malevolent eye formed out of the darkness, taking its place above.

...

-June 30th, X784-

**1169/1327**

He wasn't sure why he'd found the number funny the first time, though he'd ignored the sudden urge to grin. The instinct coming out of nowhere.

He'd simply figured it was another... _eccentricity_ of his.

Yet here he was, grinning like a loon, for no goddamn reason at all.

The wince of pain as the mana dropped down another point however brought him out of his confused stup-

A brilliant flash of white suddenly filled his vision momentarily, barely a second, before it disappeared.

He'd instinctually blinked at the sudden flash, his eyelids slowly reopening, his body already changed into an unknown stance as he suddenly found himself staring at...

The exact same background...

He blinked a few times as he turned his head, taking in his unchanged surroundings. The city walls still to his back. However, the moment he turned his head up-

"What the hell?"He questioned, a bemused look on his face as he eyed the white beam coming down from the sky, landing somewhere deep within the forests in the distance.

Now, he'd like to think he gave the sudden white beacon in the distance a little thought before jumping in headfirst but truly?

He took off running the moment he could...

If only because he'd _remembered_, and wasn't that a scary thought? That the white flash indicated some kind of _home_.

...

He wasn't sure how long it had actually taken him to get through the forest, he only knew it was too long by half.

**1060/1327**

It was a waste really, it seemed exertion drew more out of his mana. Even if it made him practically immune to aching limbs or losing his breath.

He stopped ignoring how he knew_ what, _as vague as everything is, was happening. It was probably for the best. He was pretty sure he was going to lose his mind otherwise.

Especially if this didn't prove to be the only time _he'd missed_ the damn... Whatever it is he was trying to get to!

...

It wasn't the only time.

**1006/1327**

...

**823/1327**

He stabbed the the piece of trash on the pathway with the stick. Childish amusement reeking out of him as he watched his mana rip it to shreds.

Guess who figured out how to use black magic? No, _seriously,_ whatever 'skill' he'd unlocked, the rest were still hidden, this one didn't even seem to have a name, literally set off shadows and _burnt_ the target. The amount of mana it took seemed to vary depending on the target, ranging from 1 to at one point 60.

He stabbed a leaf.

**803/1327**

Guess who's going to run out of mana if he doesn't stop acting like a child?

He made to add a tree to his collection of victims before, _fortunately for his mana,_ his head snapped to the left the moment he noticed the flash.

For whatever reason, his so called home was currently bouncing around this particular forest...

...

**720/1327**

He was starting to pay far more attention to his still steadily dropping mana. He'd stopped fooling around with it near 80 ago and yet- The flash this time surprised him, reappearing far sooner then he'd expected, which meant yes he'd missed the earlier one, only... He'd managed to catch sight, or atleast the aftermath, of a battle with the army...

Still, even with the odds of him now running into _that _flock of crazy and his mana rapidly dropping, he took off towards it, his body weaving through the strange forest and it's _inhabitants_.

...

It was funny really, he'd honestly expected this particular chase to end the same as the rest had... In that what he was chasing would vanish either moments before he'd reach their clearing or_ long_ before he would. He couldn't see any reason as to why it wouldn't.

Imagine his surprise when he finally got a good luck at exactly what he'd been chasing, and by that, he means the absolutely bizarre shape of the tree-house had until moments earlier been bouncing across... He really needed to learn this worlds name, and of course, more than likely _every_ single one of it's inhabitants.

All of which were currently surrounding him, with _very_ sharp weapons.

Still, none of them compared to sheer scrutiny behind the gaze before him. The gaze coming from one particular blonde individual, one that sent his emotions swirling. Neither him, nor any of them had so much as said a word as he'd run into the clearing. They'd all instead decided to surround him, weapons drawn.

"So? What do ya want? Why do you keep chasin' us!?" The blonde questioned, her exerted expression, clear strain and rather muddied face finally filtering in to the caught off-guard of-magic off-worlder, though her gaze never left him nor the floating tab between them.

He'd barely even noticed that near half the people around him were barely able to stand let alone fight, clear wear and tear showing through their faces and stances.

His own focus was settled on two matters, so to speak.

The first been the fact the blonde before him was actually called _Lucy._ Which meant, even ignoring the strange feelings he was getting from simply _staring_ at the damn person, either meant she wasn't the_ right_ Lucy... Or his _quest_ system wasn't functioning properly...

The other? Was the fact that just before he'd entered the clearing, he'd gotten _another_ quest... One to join, what he presumed was the group of people before him, _Fairy Tail._

The only problem with _that_ new quest however, wasn't the fact that he'd likely started on rather shaky terms with the potential guild and it's leader, given he'd practically been chasing them for the entire day, but rather that for whatever reason...

The quest had been given to him_ completed._

...

**Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget feedback!**


End file.
